Preaching

Weekly Sermon

Pastors put a great deal of energy into preaching a weekly sermon to their congregation. In the modern world, this is misdirected energy.

1. The weekly sermon implies that the pastor hears God better than his people. This contrasts with 1 Corinthians 14:26, where everyone has a word or revelation.

2. The weekly sermon encourages Christians to be passive and not to seek God's word for themselves. Perhaps this why Christians are so easily
   manipulated by false prophets. They are trained to be passive.

3. Many years ago, the pastor or priest was often the only person in a church who could read. He had to teach the people what the Bible says. This need no longer exists.

4. There is an abundance of excellent teaching on television, radio, audio tape and the internet.

5. If the Church needs a word of direction or challenge, it should come from one of the prophets and not the pastor.

6. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on the Church, so there is no need for an intermediary between God and his people. The Holy Spirit has
   promised to teach us all things (1 John 2:27, John 16:13-15).

Parable

An army is not trained by getting together all the soldiers, from brigadier to private, for an hour and half a week and spending the first 30 minutes singing battle songs and the next hour listening to a general lecturing on tactics and the history of war.

Soldiers need to learn discipline, obedience and weapons skills. These skills are learned by doing. The generals concentrate on tactics and planning. Most private soldiers are trained by NCOs. Troops need to be battle-hardened before they are fully trained.

Preaching in the World
Preaching belongs in the world. In the New Testament, preaching was used for evangelism. The good preachers in the church should be taken out of their pulpits and sent into the marketplaces to proclaim the good news to the world.

Quality Gifts

On Christmas day, my three-year-old granddaughter received as a present a small electronic fishing game, which had been designed and manufactured in the United States. There was only one problem. Before the game could be played, a C battery was needed. There are plenty of AA and AAA around the house, but Cs are not used much these days. So the present could not be used until her parents were able to purchase a battery in a couple of day’s time.

In contrast, all the presents that were manufactured in China were ready to use. They had batteries in them, with just a small piece of plastic to be removed, or the batteries were included in the box ready to install.

The difference seems obvious. Chinese manufacturers understand the needs of their customers. They know that most toys are given as gifts, and that small children want to play with their presents when they receive them. Customers have come to expect that with Chinese-made toys.
American manufacturers seem to think that customers are privileged to be able to buy their products.

If the United States manufacturers want to become “great again”, they will need to get better at customer service.

All Ready

God knew that the powers of evil would not give up their stolen authority without a fight, so he did not send Jesus until everything he had planned on earth was ready. This is why he waited so long before sending him. He had to wait until the political situation was right and the people he needed were willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and do his will.

The Roman Empire was ruling most of the earth. Roman law established peace in Israel, allowing Jesus to move around freely. Israel was divided into three provinces with the Romans ruling Judea directly through a procurator. The sons of Herod ruled the other two provinces. This allowed Jesus to operate below the Roman radar by doing most of his ministry in Galilee. He could move across the Jordan, whenever he needed a place of safety.

• Messianic expectation was at a high level. People were longing for the peace and justice of God.

• The Jewish establishment controlled the temple in Jerusalem. They were ready for confrontation with Jesus.

• John the Baptist was ready to announce the messiah.

• Peter was being toughened up ready for when the church would get going in Jerusalem.

• Paul was being trained up ready to take the gospel to the gentiles and write his letters.

• John was ready to begin a journey that would end with him writing the book of Revelation. His prophetic work would give God authority to act long into the future.

• Mary was willing to care for a baby, a huge burden for a young woman.

• Joseph was willing to obey the voice in his dreams. He was brave enough to flee to Egypt; very scary for a Jewish family.

• The wise men were ready to come and provide Mary and Joseph with economic security. They did not give Jesus toys for play. They provided his parents with gifts that could be sold in any economy at any time for their survival.

If any of these people had failed to fulfil their calling, God’s plan would have turned to custard.

The devil probably knew that something was up, but sending a messiah as a baby was so strange, he was confused. He would have killed Jesus, if he had the chance. The wise men set the cat among the pigeons by going to Herod to find the king, instead of following the star to Bethlehem. The devil stirred Herod into a killing frenzy in Bethlehem, in a futile attempt to get rid of a threat he did not understand (Matt 2:16).

After thousands of years, the time was right and everything was in place, so God sent his son. The prophets had announced the Messiah and described his ministry in full. Their declarations gave God authority to send his Son as a Messiah, but they were dead. He needed people on the ground to give life to these prophecies.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah (Luke 2:25-26).

Simeon’s prayers and prophecies gave God permission to send his Messiah. Anna’s prayers also gave him authority to send Jesus. She recognised him when he was born.

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher... She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying… she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:36-38).

Anna and Simeon knew God intended to send the Messiah in their time. They announced his coming to those “who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem”. Their prophecies and prayers gave God authority to send his son (Kingdom Authority pp.80,81).

More at God's Big Plan.

Preparation

We focus on the night that Jesus was born, but God had been planning and preparing for this moment for hundreds of years.

God had a plan to restore authority on earth, by sending his son and then the Holy Spirit to establish the kingdom. This was a good plan, but God did not have authority to implement it.

Most Christians assume that God is all-powerful and can do whatever he chooses, but if that were true, God could have put the situation right as soon as sin came into the world. He did not do that because he had freely given authority over the earth to humans. That gift was unconditional and God is faithful and true, so he could not go back on his word.

When humans sinned, God did not grab his authority back. That would turn it into Imposed Authority, and he was not interested in that. Although humans had surrendered to evil, God still recognised them as the legitimate authority on earth, so he could not intervene until he was invited by people with authority on earth. Getting that authority took thousands of years.

God was not slow to send Jesus, but sent him as soon as everything was prepared. During the thousands of years that had gone by since humans sinned, he was not sitting around twiddling his thumbs. He was waiting for people with authority on earth to give him permission to act. Because most humans had surrendered their authority to the powers of evil, this permission was quite difficult to get. He needed dozens of prophets to complete the task (Kingdom Authority, p 79).

God ultimate goal was to send Jesus to destroy the powers of evil and restore authority over the earth to humans. However, many things had to be made ready first.

• The right governments had to be in place on earth to prevent the powers of evil killing Jesus before he had grown up. (If the spiritual powers of evil had killed Jesus while he was a baby, God’s plan would be foiled. He did not have a plan B).

• The border with Egypt had to be open so that it would be available as a place of safety for Jesus.

• Control of the land of Israel would need to be divided between different rulers (Herod and Pilate), so Jesus could move from place to place in safety.

• A relatively peaceful empire must be in power, so the gospel could travel freely around the world.

• God also had to get some key people ready to obey: Joseph and Mary, John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Anna, Simeon, and the twelve disciples. Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Stephen, Timothy had to be ready to proclaim the gospel.

Before he could send Jesus, God needed permission from humans living on earth. The prophets gave God authority to send Jesus by specifying every detail of his life and ministry in written form. The declarations of human prophets gave God authority in advance to do what he wanted to do through Jesus.

Isaiah prophesied the suffering servant. Jeremiah promises the coming of the Kingdom of God. Ezekiel prophesied the season when Israel would come to faith in Jesus. Micah announced that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. This prophetic ministry reached a climax with John the Baptist. Jesus explained the prophecies about him to his disciples.

Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44).

These things were written to give God authority to act on earth.

Getting the prophets to understand his plans and write them down was a difficult task. When reading the prophetic books, we assume that the Holy Spirit controlled the prophets and could make them write exactly what he wanted. That is not true. They were sinful people just like us. The Holy Spirit had to get them into a place without distractions and spiritual disturbances, so they could hear and record his words. They often got it wrong and their writings had to be discarded.

The Holy Spirit used many prophets over hundreds of years to complete this work. The enormity of the task delayed the coming of Jesus, but God could not risk sending Jesus before he had authority to do everything he needed to do to protect him from the powers of evil (Kingdom Authority p.77).

Predictions

This is the time of year when the internet prophets share their predictions for the next year. I have never seen the point, because marking off years is a human way of viewing history. God thinks in terms of seasons.

This year I am going to make a prediction.

I am not expecting the Holy Spirit to change his mind and do things that he has been unwilling to do up till now.

I am not looking for a political leader to rescue the church.

My prediction is simple.

More of the same will produce more of the same.

If the church carries on operating in the same way that it has for the last thirty years, it will experience more of the same. People will sing lively worship songs; listen to challenging sermons; a few people will be healed; and some people will decide to follow Jesus; but the tide of secularism, humanism and paganism that is sweeping Western culture will not be turned back.

But I do have hope. I know that God wants to do something spectacular in Christchurch, the city where I live. I know that he has a strategy to establish his kingdom here in a special way as a demonstration to the world. See God’s Strategy for Christchurch.

But God can only accomplish his purposes for this city, if the church will change the way that it operates; and do things his way. I know that God has plans to establish his kingdom here, and I know that the Holy Spirit is willing and able to do it, but I am not confident it will happen, because the church is unwilling to do things differently.

The entire church does not need to change. He just needs a remnant. A couple of hundred people who are sold out for Jesus, and willing to follow the Holy Spirit wherever he leads, could get things started.

Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37 records a vision of the valley full of dry bones. After Ezekiel prophesied,
they were joined and raised to become a mighty army. However, there is an important sequence which is often missed.

When Ezekiel prophesied, the bones came together bone to bone, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. First, they had to come together in relationships, (bone to bone = pairs). The tendons and muscles joined the bones together. This is the work of the elders: to build a church with a network of relationships.

Then Ezekiel prophesied again. The breath (spirit) came into them and they stood up and became a mighty army. The Holy Spirit came in the fullness of power.

We often think the solution is for the Holy Spirit to come in power and revive the body of Christ. That is getting the order wrong. Before the Spirit can come in power, the bones must be joined together bone to bone, by tendons and muscles. In other words, the structure of the church must be corrected first. The correct leadership pattern must be established and the members must be joined together in a network of relationships. Only then can the Holy Spirit come in power.

Jesus was making the same point when he said, "you can't put new wine into old wineskins". The individual bones can only become a might army empowered by the Spirit, if they are joined together, bone to bone.

Notice also that both stages of the process were marked by the prophetic voice. The body will not be joined together, the Spirit will not be released in power, the church will not become a mighty army until the prophetic ministry is established in the church.

The real problem is that the church is dislocated and disjointed. The body will have to be joined together again before the life of God can flow through it.

Church and Kingdom

To understand the difference between the church and the kingdom of God, we must grasp the importance of territory in God’s purposes.

When the followers of Jesus living together in one place engage in spiritual warfare, they can force all the spiritual powers of evil out of that territory. Once they achieve victory, this territory belongs to Jesus, not to the spiritual powers of evil.

Within this territory, there will be two types of people.

• Citizens of the Kingdom who given their allegiance to Jesus.
• Residents living within the territory, but who have not given allegiance to Jesus. Most of them just keep their heads down and try to remain invisible. A few will be outlaws, looking for a chance to rebel against the King, but they will be outnumbered.

Jesus is the king of everyone living and working within that territory.

An ekklesia is a gathering of the citizens living in a place (Act 19:39). In terms of the Kingdom of God, the ekklesia is all the citizens of the Kingdom (those who have given allegiance to Jesus) living in that piece of territory. Not everyone living within that territory is a citizen.

Citizens are a body of followers of Jesus, who are:

• rescued by Jesus
• in allegiance with him
• living close to each other, and
• walking in the Spirit

The citizens (ekklesia) in this piece of territory engage in the following activities.

• proclaiming the good news
• loving one another
• serving each other through giving and sharing
• celebrating the Lord’s Supper
• prayer
• eldership
• discipling new believers
• prayer
• spiritual defence of the territory against all spiritual attacks.

Citizens can operate in the spiritual realms. They can go into the king’s presence because the King is their brother and friend.

Residents live within the territory of the king, but they are not citizens, because they have not yet given allegiance to the king. They only know the king by hearsay. They cannot go into his presence, because they are confined to the physical realms of life.

Residents are not interested in the activities of the ekklesia listed above. However, because they belong to the Kingdom, they are entitled to the following benefits.

• justice
• security and protection
• economic support

The King cares about all residents of his kingdom. He wants them to prosper, so they do not rebel against him.

Kingdom Communities serve citizens and residents, although most of the work will be done by citizens because they are committed to the king and his kingdom. Residents will also be glad to receive:

• education
• employment
• sanitation
• healthcare.

Kingdom Communities make human government redundant. Political power takes plenty, but has nothing to offer, because what the Kingdom Community delivers everything better.

For more see Government of God.

Substitution

Jesus dies on our behalf, so how is it that his death counts for our sins.

If a someone is convicted of a crime, then a family member can pay the fine on their behalf.

But if the sentence is the death penalty, it is not so easy. If a young man has been convicted of a serious crime and sentenced to death, the father cannot say,

My younger son died in a car accident, so let his death count for my older son who is sentenced to death.

A court would not accept that. If the father offered to die for his son (because he was old and did not want to live), the court would probably not accept that either. The court would probably demand that the son who had committed the crime pay his own penalty.

The answer is that when we trust Jesus and surrender to him, we become one with him. Through faith, we became part of Jesus.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13).

When we heard the message of truth and believed the gospel, we became “in Jesus”. God made us “those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). From that point on, everything that happened to Jesus also happened to us. When he died, we died with him.

Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death (Rom 6:3-4).

Strictly speaking, Jesus did not die as a substitute in our place. Rather, through faith we are joined with him, so when he died, we actually died with him.

Jesus died for everyone. Potentially, his death has the potential to count for everyone who has ever lived on earth. Legally that does not work. A judge will not just accept the death of one person in place of another. To receive the benefit of Jesus death, we have to trust him and surrender to him so God can put us in him. In Jesus, his death becomes our death, which satisfies the powers of evil who demanded that we die for our sins.

Jesus death has the potential to cover everyone. Legally, that potential can only become a reality for those who are united with Jesus through faith.

Because Jesus died, we do not need to die, so in that sense, he died in our place. However, from the legal perspective, we are in him, so we died with him. And because we died with him, we share in his life too.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection. (Rom 6:8).

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him (Rom 6:8).

That means that his death counts for us

Authority and Intercession

Evil spirits generally have to respond to authority. They played the authority game to steal authority on earth from humans to get their power on earth. So if they deny the validity of authority, they are undermining their position. Of course, a few are cheats, but generally they acknowledge authority. If they refuse, the Holy Spirit will force them out. (I explain the working of authority in Kingdom Authority).

The power of our intercession depends on how much authority we have in the situation. If a person has given evil spirits permission to be active in their lives, then our prayers might not be effective, because the person has greater authority over their life that we do. If they are tired of the evil and want rid of it, then our prayer will be effective, because their will, our will and God’s will are aligned, so the evil spirit has to go.

There are various ways we can get authority in another person’s life. Parents have authority over children. When we submit to elders, we give them authority in our lives. When someone asks us for help, that gives us authority in their life. When we submit to each other, we give the others authority to resist evil on our behalf. That is why submission is important in the NT.

One way to increase our authority is to bless the other person in some way. They then owe us something, which gives us authority, (the borrower is the servant of the lender). Of course, our motive must be love, and we must not expect anything in return.

Another way to increase authority is to submit to a trusted friend (or two). This gives them the same authority in the situation that we have. If we all agree with God's will the power of our intercession will be amplified.

We should concentrate our intercession of people where we have some authority because they will be more effective. I only have very little authority over a President or Prime Minister, because my only authority is my vote which is miniscule authority. So, it takes a large number of people with a small bit of authority to be effective in intercession for them. On the other hand, I have considerable authority in the life of a friend who asks me for help.

If I want someone to pray effectively for me, I need to submit to them and give them authority in my life. Then when we agree with them and with God, evil cannot resist.

When evil spirits leave, they do not clean up their mess before they go. The remaining mess does not mean that they have not gone. We often need to ask the Holy Spirit to come and restore the damage that they have left behind.

Gospel to the Streets and Marketplaces

A preacher told is listeners to take the gospel into the streets and marketplaces. He said that God would do greater miracles there than in the church. This is probably true, but the people do not know how to do it.

That is not how Jesus operated. He showed his disciples what to do. He took the twelve with him as he healed the sick, cast out demons and preached the good news. I presume that he sometimes got them to do the easy ones. When he sent them out, they know what to do, because they had helped Jesus do it.

The best way to learn a new and difficult task is the followings:

• Watch an expert do the task.
• Help the expert to do it.
• Do the task with the expert watching and checking.
• Do it on your own.

Telling people to do a tough new task without teaching them how to do it is unreasonable.

Here is a suggestion. Most pastors know how to pray for sick and how to cast out demons. They share the gospel at the end of their message most weeks. A couple of pastors should get together and go out into the streets and learn how to share the gospel there, while healing the sick and casting out demons.

When they have learned to do it, they should each take a person from their church into the streets and marketplaces and teach them how to do it. Once these two people have learned how to do it, they could each take another person and teach them what they have learned. This process would multiply the evangelist ministry to operate in the streets and marketplaces with signs and wonders following.

The best way to get people to do something that they don’t know how to do is to do it with them. Telling people to do something that you do not know how to do is dishonest.

Taking the Gospel into the Workplace

A well-known pastor I saw on television told his congregation of about 500 people that they are the ministers who will bring in the harvest by taking the gospel into their workplaces. This is a common teaching, but there is a problem.

These people are being given a burden, but they do not know how to do it.

Being a witness in a workplace is very hard. Most pastors have not worked in the workplace for many years, so they have forgotten how hard it is.

• I served in a secular organisation for thirty years, but was never able to share the gospel with anyone. I was known for being a Christian, but no one ever came and asked me about Jesus. I don’t know anyone who did manage to share the gospel effectively with their fellow workers. Those who tried hard, often made fools of themselves, because the quality of their work did not match with their words.

• If you manage other people at your workplace, you have to be careful you are not seen as imposing your beliefs on them. They have to listen to you, but you must not take advantage of that.

• A pastor works in a place that has been soaked in prayer. A workplace is shaped by the spiritual powers that the owners and managers have released into it, so it is a tough place for Christians to operate. While at work, they have to submit to their owners and managers, so they are vulnerable to the spirits that have authority in their lives.

• People go into their workplaces alone. Jesus knew that sharing the gospel is tough, so he always sent his followers out in pairs. That helped them to be effective. Only a few people go into their workplace with a fellow Christian.

• While at work, management expects people to fit with the workplace culture. This makes it hard to share the gospel, because management does not want unnecessary tensions disrupting their business.

Jesus instructed his followers into homes, streets and places, because they were spaces where the spiritual authority was less concentrated and more contested.

Ascension Gifts

We must shift the ascension gifts down from being performance ministries in a church meeting to become relationship gifts serving a body of believers.

The only ascension gift that has a performance aspect is the evangelist, but it should not be in a church meeting, but out in the world, healing the sick, casting out demons, and proclaiming the good news of Jesus.

Instead of being a travelling ministry attending church meetings, giving a word to the few lucky people, a misleading word to one or two unfortunate ones, and moving on before the results are clear, a model that is impossible for aspiring prophets to emulate, the ministry of the prophet must restored to a body of people connected by love, where they must be accountable for their words and behaviour.

Pastors should be healing and restoring broken people, not at the front of meeting, but within a body that is being bound together and built up in love to the fullness of Jesus.

Jesus command to love one another as he loves us requires life relationships, not Sunday meet and greet relationships.

More at Being Church Where We Live.

New Seasons (6) Questions

When I hear prophetic people say that we are moving into a new season or that some new blessings are being released, I want to know the answer to four questions.

• What epochal event is occurring that will bring the Kingdom of God to fulfilment? Usually, they are not pointing to a true change of season. They are just expressing a hope that the church will be revived and the gospel will be proclaimed with power. That is a noble hope, but it is misleading to call it a change in season.

• Who was holding back the promised blessings: God or the powers of evil? We need to know who we are dealing with. The problem is never with God.

• Why were the promised blessing held back?
  

  • Have the humans given the power of evil authority to hold it back?

  • Are the people of God willing to do his will?

• What has changed to make the new season possible?
  

  • Has God changed his mind – doesn’t happen?

  • Have the powers of evil given up – not likely?

  • Have the spiritual powers of evil lost their ability to hold back God’s purposes – this can only happen if humans withdraw authority they had given them?

  • Have humans changed their attitudes or behaviour allowing God to do what he wanted to do – that is always the key to the new move of the Spirit.

Christians looking for a new season should understand that God does not change his mind. He does not change his plan or the way that he does things. He does not stop and start. He is never the reason that the kingdom of God is slow to come on earth. Humans are the reason, we need a better season.

Our failure to listen to the voice of the Spirit and do his will is the reason we are not receiving the promised blessings. If we are doing the wrong thing, God will not change his mind and bless it. Rather, we should be asking him what we need to do differently to receive his blessings.

In any season, they key is alignment with the will of God. If we align with his will, we experience his goodness. His goodness is not just blessings. His goodness might mean blessing with persecutions. If we do not align with God’s will, then things will go badly in every way (although he will work it for our good in the long run).

We do not need prophets giving vague promises about season changes that are disconnected from our circumstances and alignment to God’s will. What we do need is prophetic insights into God will’s in our current situation, so that we can obey him fully and receive his blessings. We need fewer prophecies telling us that God is changing, and more telling us how to change so that we can do with his will.

This full series is at New Seasons.

New Season (5) Greater Cooperation

God will not force people to do things against their will. The Holy Spirit nudges and guides, but he will not force people to obey him. This means that God can only achieve something different on earth if his people cooperate with him more than they did in the past. If something different happens on earth, it will be because people have allowed him to do what he always wanted to do.

If a new level of activity begins in a place, it will be because people in that place have started cooperating with the Holy Spirit in a way that they were not before. It is not because God has changed his mind, and is doing something he was not doing before.

If something new is happening, it is not because God has woken up, or changed his mind. Something new can only happen if Christians have a change of heart and agree to do what God needs them to do, or because humans have removed a place of authority that the spiritual powers of evil used to obstruct God work.

There can be a new season of cooperation if the people of God have a change of heart, but we must be careful how we describe it. A season of cooperation is not something that God can make happen, regardless of the response of his people.

We can have a new season, but we establish it, when we change our hearts and cooperate with God and do his will.

New Season (4) God is Never the Problem

The problem is never with God. Lack of action on earth is never God’s fault. Lack of progress with the gospel is never the Holy Spirit’s a failure. God always wants to do something better on earth. He is always looking for people to work with his Spirit to accomplish his purposes. If Holy Spirit has not been able to bring in the Kingdom of God, it is not because he couldn’t be bothered, but because his people have been unwilling to work with him in his way to achieve his purposes.

We should be careful about saying that a new season has started, because it suggests that God is going to start doing something that he was not doing before. It implies that God is the reason why nothing was happening. This makes him the problem, which is not fair to God. It also removes responsibility from us, which is dishonest. Blaming God for our problems is a serious sin. Not only does it grieve God, but it gives the spiritual powers of evil access into our situation.

New Season (3) God has a Plan

God sent Jesus to win back the world for him. Jesus did everything that God needed him to do. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he poured out the Holy Spirit on those who believed in him. The Holy Spirit has been at work since the day of Pentecost. He has not stopped working. The plan for restoring the world by the Holy Spirit working in the church has not changed.

However, the activity of the Holy Spirit depends on the degree of cooperation that he receives from his people. God gave humans authority on earth, so the Holy Spirit needs our permission to operate on earth. He has no arms and legs, so he needs people to carry him where he needs to go. He has no mouth, so he needs people to speak through.

God has poured the Holy Spirit out on everyone who trusts in Jesus. Everything that God can do is available through his Spirit. We can grieve him, but God does not withdraw him from the world. He is always seeking to work where hearts are open to his grace.

When you have done something as wonderful as giving the gift of the Holy Spirit, it is hard to do a new thing that is better. So, the idea that God is about to do a new thing does not make sense. He cannot do more than he has already done by sending his Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of those who have chosen to follow Jesus.

If the Holy Spirit begins to move in a place, it is not he has changed his mind, but because he has found people willing to do what he needs them to do. If the Holy Spirit stops moving in a place, it is because people have stopped cooperating with him. The problem is never with God or his plan. The problem is always with us.

If we understand God's times and seasons, we will not see fickle and arbitrary changes in the way that God works on earth. The Holy Spirit came in the fullness of his power on the day of Pentecost, so God cannot send more of him. The powers of evil were fully defeated by the cross, so God cannot defeat them further.

When the Holy Spirit seems to be moving in a new way, it is most likely because he is able to do what he has always wanted to do because a group of people have opened their hearts to his purpose and allowed him to do it. Or possibly, the spiritual powers of evil have lost some authority, which prevents them from obstructing God’s purposes.

New Season (2) Covenant Seasons

A true change in season can occur, but only if there is a change in the covenant relationship between God and his people, or change in the authority situation between God and the power of evil. For example, the giving of the law to Moses began a new season, because God’s people on earth had something they did not have before. It gave them the capability to live in peace with each other and with God. It also gave the spiritual powers of evil the right to accuse them of their failure to keep the law.

The true seasons in human history are marked by epochal events that change the relationship between earth and heaven. The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus was the ultimate epochal event that brought in a new season, because it totally changed the relationship between God and humans. His death on the cross dealt with the sin, which destroyed the authority of the powers of evil. Forgiveness of sin opened the way for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on all who believe.

The last big season change occurred in AD 70 when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, bringing the old covenant sacrifices to an end. This opened a season called the Times of the Gentiles because the Jewish people chose to remain under the old covenant and lost their spiritual protection because they have no sacrifice for sin.

The next epochal event is the Fullness of the Jews when the majority of Jews come to faith in Jesus. This event will bring in a season of great blessing for the world. (These seasons are described in detail in a book called Times and Seasons).

In between these big season changes, there is spiritual warfare. What happens on earth depends on the state of the ongoing war. Success or failure depends almost entirely on the church. Changes in the spiritual realms come from binding and releasing on earth, not the other way around (Matt 16:19).

Because the Jews have not yet received Jesus as their Messiah, we are still in the season called the Times of the Gentiles. Until the epochal event that ends this season occurs and the Fullness the Jews comes in, we must be careful about calling a new season. If an epochal event has not caused a change in the spiritual realms that brings about change on earth, there is unlikely to be a new season.

New Season (1)

Reading prophetic websites, I see many prophetic people saying that we are entering a new season. I am not sure what that means. It suggests that God is going to do something new that he was not doing before. It implies that the Holy Spirit is working in one place and not in another. It makes it seems like God stops and starts, or moves in one place and not in another.

God is not Fickle
God is not fickle or capricious. He is not lazy. God does not speak like this.

• I am not going to do much in India for the next fifty years, because they have had a good run.
• I am going to move in Russia now because I have not done much there for the last 200 years.
• I am not going to do much in the United States, because I can’t be bothered.
• I am going to do more in New Zealand because I have not been doing much until now.

God has released his Holy Spirit into the world. He is always at work. He does not turn the flow on and off according to his whim. God does not engage in trial and error. He does not try things to see if they will work.

God does not come and go. He does not arbitrarily jump from offering his blessing to withdrawing it. Blessings that were not available last week do not suddenly become available this week, because the year has a different number. God is not in a stingy mood one day and in a generous mood the next. He is not miserable last year and happy next year. The angels are not tired one week and strong the next.

God operates consistently according to the principles that he has revealed in the scriptures. He has been working on a long-term strategy that began when Adam and Eve sinned. His strategy is consistent with the way he has decided to operate on earth. His way of dealing with the earth does not change. His judgements are fair and consistent.

Territory (8) Stumbling Block

Dependence on professional pastor-leaderships operating through big church-meetings is a serious obstacle to the Kingdom of God.

• I cannot see professional pastors willingly stepping down from their role. They have invested so much time and energy into their church that they believe it cannot survive without them. They believe that they are essential for the advance of the church within their city.

• I cannot see the church willingly giving up their big Sunday meetings because they have invested too much in their church buildings. Their ability to recover the wealth invested in these buildings is limited because these buildings have few other uses. Consequently, the market for unneeded church buildings is very small.

Unfortunately, this prevents them from taking spiritual control of territory for Jesus. It leaves him as a king without territory.

New Wineskin
Some prophetic people have announced that God is giving a new wineskin to his people. The coming of new wineskin must significantly change two things.

• The role and structure of the leaders.
• The way that members of the body relate to each other.

They will need to form together in a way that will enable the Holy Spirit to expand the territory where Jesus is King.

I don’t know what people think when they hear a word that God wants to bring in a new wineskin. I presume they think that their church might change a little, but most other churches will have to change more to be like theirs.

I presume that most pastors assume that they will lead the transition into the new wineskin, but if they established and shaped the old wineskin, it hard to see how that could happen.

I presume that most people in ministry assume that their role will be the same or enhanced in the new wineskin. But that cannot be true, because then the wineskin would not be new.

God will give them an opportunity to get with his program, but most will not be able to change. As usual, he will have to rely on a remnant to fulfil his strategy. He needs numerous groups of three or four people/families coming together in strategic places across the edge of the city. From there, he can spread out, working with people who come to faith, but do not have an attachment to the priest/temple paradigm. Together, they can be led by the Spirit into a new wineskin.

God can use people who are discouraged and disaffected, provided they are filled with his Spirit. But they must not stand around grumbling and moaning, but should get together with others who balance their giftings and learn to love one another. They should seek out the place where the Holy Spirit wants them to begin.

David began building his army when people who were in distress, or in debt or disaffected gathered with him in the Cave of Adullam (1 Sam 22:1-2). They were not noticed, because they seemed trivial, but they multiplied into a mighty army that took the land for David. The same applies in the modern world. Those who are distressed and disaffected should gather in places where they will not be noticed. That is how God builds a remnant.

The full set of posts can be found at Territory.

Territory (7) Fivefold Ministry

Under the Modern Church Model, dependence on professional pastors squeezes out the other ascension gifts. A pastor-leader is the chief executive of a large church, so the other gifts have to operate under him, or move outside the church. Prophets and Evangelists struggle to find a place in the church, because the pastor-leader is uneasy about giving them too much freedom. They are expected to be subordinate to their pastor and submit to his control, which constrains their ministry, whereas in Ephesians 4, they seem to be equal. The pastor’s wife often becomes the prophet to the church, because she is trusted by the pastor-leader.

Many prophets and evangelists are forced into travelling ministries, which is dangerous because they lose accountability to a body of believers. They move on before the consequences of their ministry become clear. Their ministry gets centred on meetings, when their role is to build up the body of Jesus. Of course, they continue to dependent on pastors for opportunities to speak at church meetings, so they have to be careful not to rock the boat too much.

An apostle is a leader who pushes out with some other followers of Jesus to expand the territory of the king by establishing spiritual stronghold beyond the existing one. In the Modern Church Model, this role does not exist, so “super pastors” or “regional leaders” are often given the title “apostle”.

God wants to push the fivefold gifts back down into the body of Christ, so it may grow up fully into Jesus. A team of leaders with balanced giftings who have submitted to each can join and knit together the body is in unity with every part doing its share. One elder will be a prophet, another will be an evangelist and several will be pastors. Working together in unity, they can help the body to grow by edifying of itself in love.

Multiplication of Leaders

As God brings in his kingdom by taking territory for Jesus, he will need a huge number of new leaders. Unfortunately, the Modern Church Model has been ineffective at developing new leaders. Most attendees are trained to sit passively and watch the pastor-leader ministering. Many will find a role in assisting with running a church meeting, but few will discover a five-fold calling. A few will get to preach, but it will be rare for a person to get to be a pastor-leader. This approach cannot produce the leaders that are needed to support a rapid advance of the gospel and bring in the Kingdom.

If each of the leaders of a body of believers has strong relationships with a dozen followers of Jesus will grow to maturity quickly. The prophet will release vision and ensure that issues are sorted out keep. The leaders with a shepherd’s heart will solve problems and encourage people into their callings. The leaders will replicate their ministries in those that they are discipling. The evangelist will teach them how to share the gospel and heal the sick.

When their existing stronghold is secure, the leaders will send some of their number out as apostles to push out to establish another spiritual stronghold for Jesus. Potential leaders will have discovered their calling and be ready to step and replace those who are sent out. This multiplication of ministries is essential for the advance of the Kingdom of God by taking territory for Jesus.

Spiritually Vulnerable

The Modern Church Model is vulnerable to spiritual attack. Once the leaders of churches lived in a house on the same site as their church building. That had problems, but it was a spiritually safe place to be, because the spiritual powers of evil had no authority on the land belonging to the church.

These days, pastors-leaders prefer to live separate from their church and their people, so they can have a private life. Because they live in isolation in the world like other Christians, the spiritual powers of evil can concentrate their attacks on the pastor-leader overwhelm him by diverse attacks. If they can divert him or disrupt his family, they constrain his entire church
The pastor leader of a large organisation/church will be frequently tempted to slip into manipulation and control to keep their church on track. This gives the spiritual powers of evil a point of entry to attack the church.

The spiritual powers of evil can use persecution to shut down the Modern Church Model. The most effective way is to arrest the pastor-leader and lock the church doors. This would cripple most modern churches. However, they do not have to go that far. Political powers can control the preaching of the pastor-leader by placing particular topics off limits. History shows that most pastors will comply with the requirements of the political authorities to retain their status and authority.